The outgoing commander, Vice Adm. Thomas Copeman, retired after more than 30 years of service.

Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert presided over the ceremony. He credited Copeman with shepherding dramatic change in the surface fleet, including putting the controversial littoral ship line through is first real-world testing.

“The needles are moving in the right direction,” Greenert, a four-star admiral, said.

Copeman said that his highest achievement was putting a focus on sailors and convincing Navy brass to put more crew members on ships.

Rowden comes back to San Diego after a Pentagon tour where he was director of the surface warfare division. He said Thursday that he made budget decisions about ships that will now affect him in the new job.

A former commander of the destroyer Milius and the Ronald Reagan carrier strike group, Rowden said, “I have worked my whole adult life to prepare for this job.”

Naval Surface Forces is headquartered in Coronado.

Also on Thursday, Rear Adm. David Lewis took over from Rear Adm. Patrick Brady as commander of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego.

Previously, Lewis served as the Navy’s program executive officer for ships, where he was responsible for shipbuilding of the surface fleet

Known as SPAWAR, the technology command in Old Town oversees nearly 10,000 active-duty military and civilian professionals located around the world.